By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

Between them, there's not an area of their bodies that Linsey Hays and Sarah Smith haven't hurt. They have their own reserved tables in the training room.

"I'm a 23-year-old living in a 60-year-old body," jokes Hays, who's dealt with hyperthyroidism, a herniated disc in her lower back and recurring knee pain.

Smith, a senior third baseman from Cerritos, Calif., has had back issues since her freshman year at Baylor and was slowed at different times last season by ankle and hamstring injuries "where I was like running on a gimp leg."

"I felt like I could never get ahead," Smith said. "I'd get ahead with my ankle, and then I'd pull my hamstring. My hamstring and ankle were on the same leg, and it affects your calf. I just could not get my whole left side together all of last year."

While both are maybe as healthy as they've been in their Baylor careers, Hays and Smith might feel a little twinge in their shoulders from carrying the weight of the world this season for the 18th-ranked Lady Bears (32-7, 5-0).

Going into this season, coach Glenn Moore said the key to success for Shelby Friudenberg and ultimately the Lady Bears' team hinged on Hays and Smith coming through in the batting lineup spots behind the sophomore All-American first baseman.

"If they don't, or their games go south, then Shelby won't see a pitch, because she's not fooling anyone this year," Moore said of Friudenberg, who hit a freshman-record 18 homers last year. "But I think those kids are very capable of having outstanding years. And if they do, now you're surrounding Shelby with a .400 hitter in Ari Hawkins and two kids that can hit the ball out of the park behind her. You've got to kind of pick your poison."

Smith and Hays have certainly held up their end, hitting .430 and .313, respectively, and combining for 16 home runs, 22 doubles and 70 RBI. Even though Friudenberg still isn't seeing good pitches and is well off her record pace from a year ago, "it's hard to pitch around three hitters. That's a good indicator of why we've got such a good record right now," Moore said.

"People still see Shelby as such a threat, which she is," said Hays, a fifth-year senior from Brock, Texas, who leads the team and ranks second in the Big 12 with 10 homers. "So, they kind of have to throw to me. I'm just surprised that they keep throwing me outside. Eight of my 10 home runs have been opposite-field."

That's a stark contrast to last season, when she "really hated that outside pitch" Moore said, and would just try to foul it off if she swung at all.

Hays said her back and knee issues kept her from swinging at the outside pitch with any kind of power, because she couldn't "use my lower half the way that I am now."

Snakebit from the start, Hays discovered her hyperthyroid issue at the start of her true freshman season after a couple emergency room visits for what was originally diagnosed as a heart condition. She had played in just eight games and eventually got the year back.

"I came in with a lot of expectations and excitement," she said. "And then not to be able to play, it was difficult. But I'm thankful now for that year."

Hays was barely into her redshirt sophomore season in 2014 when the back injury flared up. But it didn't seem to bother her too much, as she hit .344 with 13 homers and 49 RBI to earn first-team all-region honors.

"I wouldn't practice during the week and then I'd play on the weekends," she said. "Or, I would just hit, get two at-bats, and Coach Moore would pull me. I was in and out of the lineup a lot that season, just trying to stay healthy and play the games that really mattered."

Smith's back problems began her freshman season in 2013. But like Hays, it didn't seem to affect her swing. Named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year, Smith hit .365 with five home runs and 30 RBI and made only three errors despite playing a new position.

"(The back injury) kind of changed the whole way I had to rework my body, learning how to deal with the pain," said Smith, an outfielder before coming to Baylor.

Continuing the pattern, she sprained her left ankle the fall of her sophomore season, tore the ligaments in the same ankle last year and then had a pulled hamstring, all in the first month of the season.

While she still wears an ankle brace, "it doesn't hurt my game like it used to," said Smith, who dropped off considerably at the plate last season.

Now, she's on a record pace, hitting a Big 12-best .430 with six homers, 11 doubles, one triple and a team-high 37 RBI.

"She has such a unique mentality," Hays said of Smith. "She never gets too high or too low, and she's very consistent. So for her to come out and have this kind of year is great, especially in her last year. But, I'm not surprised by it."

Smith, who has no idea what her batting average is, said she's taken a more aggressive approach this season.

"I just feel like this is it. Honestly, I will never hit again after this, so why not?" she said. "I've even been going after first pitches. I don't ever do that. But this year, I'm like, 'Why not?' Just go for it."

With 37 career home runs and 162 RBI, Hays is already running in select company with the likes of Chelsi Lake, Brette Reagan and Ashley Monceaux. Time is running out, but she needs eight more homers and 23 RBI to break Lake's school records.

"It would be very rewarding to wind up with those records or even be at the top of those lists," she said. "I think about some of the players like Brette Reagan and Ashley Monceaux, just to be in the same category as them is definitely an honor."

Records aside, they're both intent on winning the school's first Big 12 championship in nine years and getting back to the World Series for the second time in three years. They could take a big step toward the first goal by taking a weekend series from defending champion and 12th-ranked Oklahoma (27-7, 3-1).

"I've been (to the World Series) before, and it was a great experience. It was everything a little girl dreams of," Smith said. "A lot of (Baylor) teams can say that they've been there before, but there's only one team that can say they won a Big 12 championship. . . . Even if we don't go to the World Series, it would still be ending your career on a high note. You actually get to wear a ring to show everybody what you accomplished."